A Theology of Occupation

A Theology of Occupation by Robert Lupton: ”
Approach the intersection of Second Avenue and Boulevard Drive any time, day or night, and you will see the raw and unchecked version of street life when crime takes over a community. Clusters of men congregate on the corner in front of a row of storefronts, openly selling [...]

Review of “Theological Implications of Hip-Hop Culture”

Review of “Theological Implications of Hip-Hop Culture”: “I just ordered William ‘Duce’ Branch’s Masters Thesis off the internet and read it yesterday. For most people, his name doesn’t mean anything, but for those who know Holy Hip-Hop, you might know him better as ‘The Ambassador’ from the Cross Movement. That’s right…An emcee from [...]

Alan Hirsch at GRTS

This past Wednesday, Alan Hirsch, Director of Forge Mission Training Network, and author of The Shaping of Things to Come and The Forgotten Ways, spoke in chapel at my seminary, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. I wasn’t able to make it, although I really wanted to be there. Thankfully there is a recording available on the [...]

A fellow blogger and friend

As you may know, I am currently doing an internship here in Grand Rapids with Joel Shaffer and Urban Transformation Ministries. Joel is a great guy and thoughtful urban practitioner. He has started a new blog which I’m excited about and love to see you be as well. Feel free to go over to UTM [...]

Missional Christian Education

The end of the semester is practically here, and I’m busy writing final papers. I have two large final papers that I’ll be posting. The first one, entitled “A Missional Approach and Application to Adult Christian Education in the Church,” is now completed. Christian education is a familiar term for most, but if you [...]

Followup: Conservative commitment or Western mindset?

An interesting and rather lengthy discussion has begun over on Facebook regarding this post. For those who do not have access to Facebook, here is the conversation thus far.

Conservative commitment or Western mindset?

My recent interaction with a non-English speaking church leaves me puzzled. I had gotten in contact with them when I heard of their interest in teaching English as a second language. My own church has been contemplating the idea for a while, so I was interested in any possibilities of partnership. After introducing myself and [...]

Attractional vs Incarnational Ecclesiology

Should the church be trying to attract people to itself, or should it be out in the community? I argue that it must be both. Read my new paper to get my whole position.

The Mission of God and of His People

As a part of my Global Impact class, I was required to write my personal theology of mission. Today I’d like to post it for you. Enjoy!
The_Mission_of_God_and_His_People.pdf

A Case for Two Kinds of Short Term Missions Trips

Two of my classes this semester have been with GRTS professor and missiologist Dr. David Livermore. In his recent book Serving with Eyes Wide Open, Livermore points out many of the shortcomings of short term missions. Among those shortcomings there is the fact that short term missions usually end up changing the one sent more [...]